Wednesday, September 14, 2005
The possibility of malice and the reality of humanity"Thinking of you in our time of greed...Halliburton." 12:20:31 AM | (One of Bill Maher's "greeting cards" on Real Time tonight) Since Bush has finally accepted responsibility for his administration's criminally negligent response to Katrina, and since we still don't know if his acceptance will have any consequences, here's some evidence that it was not just incompetence that led to the compounded disaster but lack of political will, or worse, malice: Mel Brooks once said, "it's good to be king." Well when it comes to
hurricanes, it's even better being the President's brother. Especially
in a vital swing state. In an election year.
Louisiana's Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco is learning that
the hard way. While her state suffered through a disastrous,
disorganized and delayed response to Katrina from FEMA and the Bush
administration, Florida governor Jeb Bush had no such problems as his
state weathered four hurricanes in 2004.
Go ahead and read the rest. It's detailed. And it's damning. (via Dave Pollard) And if you're still debating whether or not New Orleans was exceptionally bad in the crime department, here's a first-hand account of how many New Orleanians behaved exceptionally well, coming to the aid of others at the risk of their own safety: I will
not mince words. This was in a really rough neighborhood and we came
across five seemingly unsavory characters. One had scars from what
seemed to be gunshot wounds. We found these guys at a two-story
recreational complex, one of the only two-story buildings in the
neighborhood. They broke into the center and tried to rustle as many
people as possible from the neighborhood into the center. These guys
stayed outside in the center all day, getting everyone out of the rec
center onto boats. We approached them at approximately 6:30 p.m.,
obviously one of the last trips of the day, and they sent us further
into the neighborhood to get more people out of homes and off rooftops
instead of getting on themselves. This at the risk of their not getting
out and having to stay in the water for an undetermined (you have to
understand the uncertainly that all of the people in these accounts
faced without having any info on the rescue efforts, how far or deep
the flooding was, or where to go if they want to swim or walk out)
amount of time. These five guys were on the last boat out of the
neighborhood at sundown. They were incredibly grateful, mentioned
numerous times 'God is going to bless y'all for this'. When we got them
to the dock, they offered us an Allen Iverson jersey off of one of
their backs as a gesture of gratitude, which was literally probably the
most valuable possession among them all. Obviously, we declined, but I
remain tremendously impacted by this gesture. This was written by Robert LeBlanc, a friend of Interdictor,
a livejournal blogger who has stayed in New Orleans throughout the
storm and aftermath. LeBlanc stayed too, and he's been rescuing people
from their rooftops and flooded homes for nearly two weeks now. He is a
true bona fide hero. He is also a self-described conservative. Read his
entire entry, then go read what Interdictor has been writing about the
past two weeks. His entries are important. Rebecca and I had a similar experience with thankfulness in the face
of hardship that night at the Reliant Center when a group of men who
had cared for Louis grabbed our hands and took us into their prayer
circle. They gave thanks for so many things, saying over and over again
how lucky they were. All of you who read this blog know I am not a
religious person in the slightest, and though Rebecca is spiritual,
she's not exactly a garden-variety church goer. It wasn't the religious
gesture that moved us. It was the fact that people who had lost so much
could be so grateful. One of the men we had talked to earlier who, like
Louis, was separated from his entire family, still didn't know if his
loved ones were alive or dead, but he stood there and gave thanks for
shelter, food, and life itself. We are actually not so different, y'all. That realization is enough
to keep us going, even as our administration divides us up by political
donations, spoiling some and starving the rest. 
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Last update: 10/2/05; 7:48:24 PM .
